Two recent disciplinary cases against lawyers have produced
very contrasting outcomes.
Firstly, there is, yet again, the tragedy of a career in
tatters because of desperate attempts at a cover up. The background to this case
is, to be honest, the stuff of everyone’s nightmare. Claire Matthews did not
miss a deadline; she did not get the law wrong; she fell asleep on a train. Unfortunately,
this caused her to leave behind a locked brief case that contained highly
sensitive documents. Her client was the SRA.
She did not report the incident to her employers, Capsticks,
for a week in the hope that she could retrieve the lost briefcase. She lied to
a colleague that she had left it at her new flat and that she would return it. In
a later email she said that she had left it on a train that morning when in
fact this had happened the previous week. Anyone who has followed these stories
will know that this was all going to end badly.
There was evidence before the SDT that she was in a very bad
state following the incident. She told the tribunal that she had “drank alcohol
to excess in order block out the event. At her lowest point, the Respondent
said that she had resorted to drinking bleach in an attempt to end her life.” She said that she acted in panic and that
there was no deliberate attempt to mislead.
The tribunal found that –
“The damage to the reputation of the profession by the
Respondent’s misconduct was significant as the public would trust a solicitor
not to conceal the loss of data by telling untruths to their colleagues and
their employer. The Respondent’s conduct was a significant departure from the
complete integrity, probity and trustworthiness expected of a solicitor.”
She was struck off and ordered to pay £10k costs.
This does seem a harsh outcome. But is stark reminder again
of the need to be completely open if you make a mistake. To leave a bag on a
train is forgivable. It can happen to us all. To then mislead your employers takes
the incident to another level. To confess is painful. To lose your career is a
tragedy. The SDT have again made it clear that honesty and integrity are paramount.
It is interesting that the second case, involving a member
of the bar, has a very different outcome. It was a very different case. The report in Legal Futures opens
with the unforgettable words –
“A senior barrister who headbutted
a junior female member of chambers during a drunken row, leaving her on the
ground with blood all over her face, has been suspended for three months by a
Bar disciplinary tribunal.”
It seems that both barristers were
drunk.
The Bar Disciplinary Tribunal, in suspending
him said that a “signal needed to be sent” that such conduct was not
acceptable. I should say, in passing, that Everton FC player Duncan Ferguson
spent 4 months in HMP Barlinnie for headbutting an opponent when playing for
Glasgow Rangers!
This is nothing to do with the case
of Ms Matthews. But you could understand members of the public wondering why a
young solicitor does more damage to the reputation of the profession by panicking
after losing a briefcase, than a senior barrister who headbutts a woman colleague
in the street.
Just saying.
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